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Trevose, PA, United States, 2012/12/14 - Over the past 10 years, Degrémont and GE have helped more than 60 local municipalities and industries, including refining and petrochemical, save more than 40B liters of water with GE’s ZeeWeed* membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology. NYSE: GE

Over the past 10 years, Degrémont and GE (NYSE: GE) have helped more than 60 local municipalities and industries, including refining and petrochemical, save more than 40 billion liters of water with GE’s ZeeWeed* membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology.

The purified water was reused in industrial processes, for irrigation and the watering of parkland (where the regulations permit), which preserves the water resources by limiting recourse to drinking water. In many situations, such as in Cannes (Aquaviva) and Nouméa (James Cook), GE’s technology has contributed to significantly improving the quality of the water output and to reducing the environmental footprint due to its compactness in comparison with conventional clarification-disinfection technologies. Degrémont is an international company and a subsidiary of Suez Environnement that designs, builds, operates and equips water treatment installations for local governments and industries.

Specifically, six of Degrémont’s industrial customers in France, Italy and China together reused more than 40 billion liters of water per year resulting in Degrémont being honored with GE’s ecomagination Leadership Award. The award recognizes the achievements of industrial users that significantly surpass and improve environmental and industrial operational goals while balancing industrial demands.

“Reusing water for industrial applications allows our customers to avoid using valuable drinking water as feed source. By providing more than 60 of our customers with GE’s ZeeWeed technology has allowed us to help them collectively reuse more than 40 billion liters of water,” said Pierre Yves Pouliquen, director of Degrémont's French business. "We are honored that GE has recognized us for an ecomagination award. Our collaboration and ongoing feedback has enabled us to work closely together on improving membrane and process performance. We have together helped drive energy, footprint and performance optimization, all critical parameters in sustainable development."

The GE ecomagination award was presented yesterday to Degrémont during a ceremony to celebrate the 10 years of partnership between the two companies and the more than 60 Degrémont sites equipped with the GE technology.

“We have noticed an ongoing trend that industrial users around the world are focusing more on decreasing their water footprint to reuse water, lower costs and minimize environmental impact. Degrémont and its customers are examples to follow concerning the manner in which certain local authorities and petrochemical and refining industries can successfully reuse water," said Heiner Markhoff, president and CEO—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.

All of the projects used GE’s ZeeWeed 500 and ZeeWeed 1000 reinforced, hollow-fiber membranes, which have been proven over more than two decades of wastewater treatment and water reuse applications. ZeeWeed 500 technology is an advanced filtration technology that separates particles, bacteria and viruses from water or wastewater. Nearly 1,000 plants worldwide use this technology to produce superior quality.

Ultrafiltration uses a semi-permeable membrane barrier to reject suspended solids, bacteria, viruses, endotoxins and other pathogens in water to produce treated water known as permeate with very high purity and low silt density. It serves as a pretreatment for surface water, seawater and biologically treated municipal effluent before reverse osmosis and other membrane water treatment systems. Ultrafiltration also is used in industry to separate suspended solids from solution. GE’s ZeeWeed ultrafiltration membranes offer an unmatched combination of ultrafiltration performance, energy efficiency, durability, fast installation, ease of operation and reliability.

About Degrémont
A subsidiary of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, Degrémont has been the world water treatment specialist for more than 70 years. Operating in more than 70 countries with 5,476 employees, Degrémont generated revenues of €1,584 million in 2011.

About SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT
Natural resources are not infinite. SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT (Paris: SEV, Brussels: SEVB) and its subsidiaries deal with the challenge of protecting resources by providing innovative solutions to industries and to millions of people. SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT supplies drinking water to 76 million people provides wastewater treatment services for 44 million people and collects the waste produced by 51 million people. SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has 80,410 employees and, with its presence on five continents, is a world leader exclusively dedicated to water and waste management services. In 2011, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, a subsidiary owned 35.7 percent by GDF SUEZ, achieved revenues of €14.8 billion.

About GE
GE (ge.com) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works.

About GE Power & Water
GE Power & Water provides customers with a broad array of power generation, energy delivery and water process technologies to solve their challenges locally. Power & Water works in all areas of the energy industry including renewable resources such as wind and solar; biogas and alternative fuels; and coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. The business also develops advanced technologies to help solve the world’s most complex challenges related to water availability and quality. Numerous products are qualified under ecomagination, GE’s commitment to providing innovative solutions that maximize resources, drive efficiencies and help make the world work better. Power & Water’s seven business units include Aeroderivative Gas Turbines; Gas Engines; Nuclear Energy; Power Generation Services; Renewable Energy; Thermal Products and Water & Process Technologies. Headquartered in Schenectady, N.Y., Power & Water is GE’s largest industrial business.

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